Cover not available
Part of
Shakespeare and Crisis: One hundred years of Italian narratives
Edited by Silvia Bigliazzi
[Shakespeare in European Culture 2] 2020
► pp. 95–145

Chapter 3
Fascist crises

Shakespeare, ‘thou art mighty yet!’

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was a play that Italian Fascism accurately exploited during various transitions in the history of its regime. Although in many respects a difficult play, full of thorny ambiguities for Fascist ideology, it offered good possibilities for propaganda, if appositely manipulated, at least until the Ethiopian Empire was proclaimed. This chapter contends that Shakespeare’s fortune with Fascism coincides with some of the most critical phases in the transformation and establishment of Fascist power between 1924–1925 and 1939. It also argues that although after the 1935 Maxentius production, and the 1936 Genoa performance of Malipiero’s opera drawn from Julius Caesar, its fortune suddenly dropped, the play continued to haunt the Italian stages. It became the ‘Stone Guest’ of other subsequent Italian Caesar plays which sought to erase its memory in order to contribute to new propaganda trends. By also exploring practices of manipulation and censorial excision, the essay discusses how Shakespeare offered at the time the litmus test of critical moments in the history of the Fascist regime.
Keywords: Fascism, Shakespeare, Julius Caesar , censorship
Article outline
  • Rising and falling in Fascist Italy
  • The fad begins: The 1924 crisis
  • Fascistising Shakespeare: 1928 law and order
  • Mussolini, Caesar, Shakespeare: An interlude (1932)
  • ‘Propaganda Shakespeare’: The 1935 crisis
  • Towards power consolidation and self-censure: 1936
  • Post-empire transitions: Forgetting Shakespeare’s Caesar
  • 1939: Shakespeare, “thou are mighty yet!”
  • Silence
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 22 June 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sec.2.03big
References (73)
References
Angeli, Diego. 1935. “Alla Basilica Massenzio. Giulio Cesare e Bruto nella tragedia shakespeariana.” La Stampa 2 August: 4.Google Scholar
Appian. 1578. An Avncient Historie and exquisite Chronicle of the Romanes warres, both Ciuile and Foren. London: Rause Newbery and Henrie Bynniman.Google Scholar
Bassi, Shaul. 2009. “Guglielmo e Benito: Shakespeare e la razza in epoca fascista.” In Postcolonial Shakespeare. Studi in onore di Viola Papetti, edited by M. D’Amico and S. Corso, 19–32. Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura. (English version Bassi 2011.)Google Scholar
. 2011. “Guglielmo and Benito: Shakespeare, Nation and Ethnicity in Fascist Italy.” In The Shakespearean International Yearbook (11), edited by Graham Bradshaw, Tom Bishop, Alexander Huang, and Jonathan Harris, 199–216. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Bigliazzi, Silvia, ed. 2019. Julius Caesar 1935. Shakespeare and Censorship in Fascist Italy. Verona: Skenè. DOI logo
Berghaus, Günter. 1996. Fascism and Theatre. Comparative Studies on the Aesthetics and Politics of Performance in Europe, 1925–1945. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar
Bertolini, Alberto. 1948. “Il presidente Einaudi a Verona per la prima di ‘Romeo e Giulietta’.” Il Gazzettino (Venezia) 27 July. Accessed September 1, 2018. [URL]
Boatti, Giorgio. 2010. Preferirei di no. Le storie dei dodici professori che si opposero a Mussolini. Torino: Einaudi.Google Scholar
Calvani, Alessandra. 2012. Traduzioni e Traduttori. Limena (Padova): Libreriauniversitaria.it Edizioni.Google Scholar
Campodonico, Marcello, ed. and trans. 1925. Giulio Cesare di Guglielmo Shakespeare. Milano: Carlo Signorelli.Google Scholar
Canfora, Luciano. 2009. “Caesar for Communists and Fascists.” In A Companion to Julius Caesar, edited by Miriam Griffin, 431–440. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Casalegno, Carla. 2005. Pier Giorgio Frassati. Cantalupa (Torino): Effatà Editrice.Google Scholar
Cavallo, Pietro. 1990. Immaginario e rappresentazione. Il teatro fascista di propaganda. Roma, Bonacci Editore.Google Scholar
. 1996. “Theatre Politics of the Mussolini Régime and Their Influence on Fascist Drama.” In Fascism and Theatre. Comparative Studies on the Aesthetics and Politics of Performance in Europe, 1925–1945, edited by Günter Berghaus, 111–132. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar
Cerpelloni, Emma. 1998. “Simoni e Strehler due nemici in scena.” L’Arena 2 July. Accessed September 1, 2018. [URL]
De Benedictis, Michele. 2014. “Crossing the Rubicon in Fascist Italy. Mussolini and Theatrical Casesarism from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar ”. In Shakespeare and Tyranny: Regimes of Reading in Europe and Beyond, edited by Keith Gregor, 127–144. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
De Biasio, Elisabetta. 2006. Alfredo Frassati un conservatore illuminato: aspetti biografici editi e inediti. Milano: Franco Angeli.Google Scholar
De Lorenzo, Giuseppe. 1916. “Shakespeare e l’Italia.” Il Marzocco 17: 2.Google Scholar
. 1924. “Prefazione.” In Roma nelle tragedie di Shakespeare: Giulio Cesare, Coriolano. Translation by Ada Salvatore, v–xxviii. Napoli: G. Casella.Google Scholar
Dunnett, Jane. 2006. “The Rhetoric of Romanità: Representations of Caesar in Fascist Theatre’.” In Julius Caesar in Western Culture, edited by Maria Wyke, 244–268. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Folena, Gianfranco. 1977. “La voce e la scrittura di Malipiero.” In Omaggio a Malipiero, edited by Mario Messinis, 95–114. Firenze: Olsckhi.Google Scholar
Formichi, Carlo. 1928. Guglielmo Shakespeare. Roma: Formiggini.Google Scholar
Forzano, Giovacchino. 1954. Mussolini autore drammatico: Campo di Maggio; Villafranca; Giulio Cesare. Firenze: G. Barbera.Google Scholar
Frassati, Alfredo. 1936. La volontà in Amleto. Bologna: Zanichelli.Google Scholar
Frassati, Luciana. 1979. Un uomo un giornale. Alfredo Frassati. Vol. 2, part 2. Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura.Google Scholar
Frese Witt, Mary Ann. 2001. The Search for Modern Tragedy. Aesthetic Fascism in Italy and France. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Fried, Ilona. 2010. “Bontempelli e i ‘teatri di masse’.” Bollettino ’900. Electronic Journal of ’900 Italian Literature (1–2). Accessed September 1, 2018. [URL]
Garlanda, Federico. 1910. Guglielmo Shakespeare: il poeta e l’uomo. Roma: Società Ed. Laziale.Google Scholar
Gatti, Hilary. 1968. Shakespeare nei teatri milanesi dell’Ottocento. Bari: Adriatica.Google Scholar
Gentile, Emilio. 1996. “The Theatre of Politics in Fascist Italy.” In Fascism and Theatre. Comparative Studies on the Aesthetics and Politics of Performance in Europe, 1925–1945, edited by G. Berghaus, 72–93. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar
Giardina, Andrea. 2000. “Ritorno al futuro: la Romanità Fascista”. In Il mito di Roma: da Carlo Magno a Mussolini, by Andrea Giardina, and André Vauchez, 212–296. Bari: Laterza.Google Scholar
Gramsci, Antonio. 1979. Letteratura e vita nazionale. Nuova edizione riveduta e integrata. Roma: Editori Riuniti.Google Scholar
Griffiths, Clive. 2006. “Theatre under Fascism.” In A History of Italian Theatre, edited by Joseph Farrell and Paolo Puppa, 339–348. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Guarnieri, Lyno. 1936. Giulio Cesare (Studio storico-politico). Roma: Edizioni “La Verità.”Google Scholar
. 1937. Giulio Cesare: dramma in quattro atti. Roma: ATENA.Google Scholar
Guglielmi, Nino. 1939. Giulio Cesare: Quattro momenti e sei quadri. Roma: Edizioni Fascismo.Google Scholar
Isenberg, Nancy. 2012. “‘Caesar’s Word against the World’: Caesarism and the Discourses of Empire.” In Shakespeare and the Second World War, edited by Irena R. Makaryk and Marissa McHugh, 83–105. Toronto: Toronto University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Isnenghi, Mario. 2014. Ritorni di fiamma. Storie italiane. Milano: Feltrinelli.Google Scholar
Lodovici, Cesare Vico. 1939. “‘Cesare’ di Forzano.” Scenario 8 (5): 200–201.Google Scholar
Ludwig, Emil. 1933. Talks with Mussolini. Translated from the German by Eden and Cedar Paul. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.Google Scholar
Malipiero, Gian Francesco. 1938. “Memorie utili. Ovvero: come nasce nei musicisti il desiderio di scrivere per il teatro.” Scenario 7 (3): 107–110.Google Scholar
. 1992a. L’armonioso labirinto. Teatro da musica 1913–1970, edited by Marzio Pieri. Venezia: Marsilio.Google Scholar
. 1992b. “Esalazioni epurative.” Il Sole 24 ore 25 October, n.p. Accessed September 1, 2018. [URL]
Marjanović, Alexandra. 2005. “Introduzione alla vita e alle carte di Raffaello Piccoli: un racconto.” Cartevive 16 (1) (37): 26–84.Google Scholar
Muccioli, Alessandro. 1924. “Introduction.” In Guglielmo Shakespeare. Giulio Cesare, edited and translated by Alessandro Muccioli, 5–20. Firenze: Battistelli.Google Scholar
Mussolini, Benito. 1934. Scritti e discorsi. Vol. 2: La rivoluzione fascista (23 marzo 1919 – 28 ottobre 1922). Milano: Hoepli.Google Scholar
Nicolodi, Fiamma. 1984. Musica e musicisti nel ventennio fascista. Fiesole: Discanto.Google Scholar
Piccoli, Raffaello, ed. and trans. 1925. Shakespeare. Giulio Cesare. Firenze: Vallecchi.Google Scholar
. 1934. Poesia e vita spirituale saggi sulla letteratura e la civiltà inglese e americana e sui loro rapporti con l’Italia. Bari: Laterza.Google Scholar
Plutarch. (1576) 1899. Plutarch’s Lives Englished by Sir Thomas North in Ten Volumes, vols 7 and 9. London: J.M. Dent and Sons.Google Scholar
Rebora, Piero. 1936. Civiltà italiana e civiltà inglese. Studi e ricerche. Firenze: Le Monnier.Google Scholar
Rebora, Roberto. 1953. “La tragedia di un intellettuale.” Sipario 18, 1 December. Accessed September 10, 2018. [URL]
Ricci, Aldo, ed. 1921. W. Shakespeare, Giulio Cesare. Tragedia, con introduzione e note ad uso scolastico. Firenze: G.C. Sansoni Editore.Google Scholar
Ripamonti, Icilio. 1953. “Successo al ‘Piccolo’ del ‘Giulio Cesare’.” Avanti! 21 November. Accessed September 10, 2018. [URL]
Santi, Piero. 1977. “La concezione teatrale.” In Omaggio a Malipiero, edited by Mario Messinis, 153–163. Firenze: Olsckhi.Google Scholar
Scarpellini, Emanuela. 1989. Organizzazione teatrale e politica del teatro nell’Italia fascista. Firenze: La Nuova Italia.Google Scholar
Sestito, Marisa. 1978. Julius Caesar in Italia (1726–1974). Bari: Adriatica Editrice.Google Scholar
Shakespeare, William. 1862. Œuvres complètes. Tome x. La Société. Translated by François-Victor Hugo. Paris: Pagnerre Librairie – Éditeur.Google Scholar
. 2001. Giulio Cesare. Edited and translated by Alessandro Serpieri. Milano: Garzanti.Google Scholar
. 2014. Julius Caesar (The Arden Shakespeare). Edited by David Daniell. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Shaw, George Bernard. 1901. Three Plays for Puritans. Chicago, IL: Herbert S. Stone and Company.Google Scholar
Simini, Ezio Maria. 1993. “Vita e morte di Domenico Piccoli deputato socialista vicentino (1854–1921).” VENETICA, Annuario di storia delle Venezie in età contemporanea, nuova serie n. 2: 131–168.Google Scholar
Sterpos, Marco. 2015. Scrivere teatro nel regime. Giovacchino Forzano e la collaborazione con Mussolini. Modena: Mucchi Editore.Google Scholar
Testa, Pietro. s.d. Rapporto sul campo 83. Dal Comando Italiano, 22 giugno 1945. Storia dei militari che rifiutarono il nazismo. Premessa di Mario Beiletti, Introduzione e note di Franco Di Giorgi.
Treves, Piero. 1993. “Interpretazioni di Giulio Cesare” (1934). Quaderni di Storia 19 (37): 115–126.Google Scholar
Turba, Alessandro. 2016. Il mito di Giulio Cesare e il culto della romanità nel teatro musicale dell’Era Fascista: i casi di Gian Francesco e Riccardo Malipiero . PhD diss. Università di Milano. Accessed September 1, 2018. [URL]
Verdone, Mario. 1996. “Mussolini’s ‘Theatre of the Masses’.” In Fascism and Theatre. Comparative Studies on the Aesthetics and Politics of Performance in Europe, 1925–1945, edited by Günter Berghaus, 133–139. New York: Berghahn Books.Google Scholar
Waterhouse, C. G. John. 2013. Gian Francesco Malipiero. The Life, Times and Music of a Wayward Genius 1882–1973. New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2016. “Malipiero, Gian Francesco.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford: Oxford Unversity Press. Accessed September 10, 2018. [URL]
Wyke, Maria. 1999. “Sawdust Caesar: Mussolini, Julius Caesar, and Drama of Dictatorship.” In The Uses and Abuses of Antiquity, edited by Michael Biddiss and Maria Wyke, 167–186. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
. 2004. “Film Style and Fascism: Julius Caesar .” Film Studies 4: 58–74. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2006. “Caesar, Cinema, and National Identity in the 1910s.” In Julius Caesar in Western Culture, edited by Maria Wyke, 170–189. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zurlo, Leopoldo. 1952. Memorie inutili: la censura teatrale nel ventennio. Roma: Edizioni dell’Ateneo.Google Scholar